MULANEY:  Sunday 9:30PM on FOX THE FACTS:  John Mulaney, in real life a stand-up comic and TV comedy writer (most notably on SNL, where his biggest claim to fame may be co-creating Bill Hader’s Stefon character), plays one in the sitcom he created for himself, too.  His TV show boss is Martin Short, and […]

  Thanks to SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, THE VOICE and Dick Wolf, NBC is in stable–if unexciting–shape as the 2015-16 season ends, and the Peacock’s fall line-up is as notable for what it doesn’t do as for what it does.  Although the network has ordered a dozen new series, only 3 of them will begin airing […]

  THE MCCARTHYS:  Thursday 9:30PM on CBS THE FACTS:  Ronnie McCarthy (Jake Lacy) is part of a lovingly smothering Boston Irish-Catholic family, who are just fine with him being gay but embarrass him at every turn anyway.  The series was created by Brian Gallivan, a relative newbie, so the showrunner will be Mike Sikowitz, of […]

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here. HOSTAGES:  Monday 10PM on CBS starting September 23 – Potential DVR Alert HOSTAGES, like this summer’s Under the Dome, finds CBS stretching its legs, expanding its brand into new areas.  The serialized drama will have a limited run of 15 episodes this fall, sharing its timeslot with […]

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here and Midseason Pilot Reports here. WE ARE MEN:  Monday 8:30PM on CBS – Change the Channel It hasn’t been a great fall for new sitcoms.  On CBS, WE ARE MEN (which could have better been called We Are Mediocrities) joins Mom, The Crazy Ones, and The Millers, […]

  One more drama for ABC:  the murder-driven soap SECRETS & LIES, which had a high-profile deal that would have required the network to pay a large penalty if it hadn’t ordered the series (it has a 10-episode order, which may tag it as more likely for midseason than fall).  It’s based on an Australian […]

  Thursdays are going to look very different next season, so let’s jump right into our very early fall ratings predictions.  We’ve already taken a look at Monday,  Tuesday, and Wednesday, and as before, our predictions cover the September 22-December 7 period when all the networks are running fresh episodes of just about all their […]

  Welcome to Upfronts week, when the broadcast networks (or what’s left of them) announce their Fall schedules and attempt to generate billions of dollars worth of excitement from advertisers.  It’s harder than ever to authoritatively analyze the thought process that goes into a broadcaster’s cancellation, renewal and pick-up decisions, because network ad revenues directly […]